


Lungs

by Missy



Category: Burn Notice
Genre: Babysitting, Bittersweet, F/M, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-17
Updated: 2012-08-17
Packaged: 2017-11-12 09:02:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/489121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam thinks Charlie Westen has inherited his mother's lungs.  Babysitting grandma Maddie can't disagree.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lungs

**Author's Note:**

> Written for cottoncandy_bingo, square: grandchild/grandchildren

“The kid has Ruth’s lungs.” 

Madeline peered over the top of Charlie’s yellow duckie blanket as Sam ambled through her back door. “Thank you for saying the obvious, Sam,” Madeline grumbled. But her posture and smile were both totally frozen into a pose of politeness.

Sam leaned against the doorjam and watched her rock the infant, careful to keep the baby’s head safely cradled. “How’s he holding up?”

She bounced the baby, her feet slapping hard against the parquet floor. “He’s a year old, has no parents and a soaked diaper. How would you feel?”

“I thought it was gas,” Sam joked, eyeing the baby cautiously as Madeline carried him over to the changing table. Grinning, Sam wiggled his fingers at the baby. “Hey chooker,” he cooed. “He’s gorgeous, Mad.”

“Chooker?” Maddie’s eyebrow bobbled up as she worked open the diaper’s closures. “He is.” She pulled back the tabs and went about dabbing the baby dry as Sam reeled backward. “He gets it from Nate…what’s wrong?”

Sam was too busy wafting fresh air toward his nose. “Whew! Smells like someone dumped a bottle of bleach into a tank of piss.” 

Maddie swatted his arm for his language. “What did you expect?” she wondered, carefully lifting Charlie by his legs and pulling the soiled diaper from underneath him. 

“Something sweeter than that!” Sam replied.

“And you haven’t been here when he’s gone number two,” Maddie finished wiping the baby and settled him back down onto a fresh diaper, then dumped the dirty one into the trash. While she washed her hands with a few drops of sanitizer, and Sam took the opportunity to wriggle his fingers over Charlie’s face. The baby squealed and giggled, kicking his legs.

“Got Nate’s smile, too.” Sam’s voice turned serious, slightly gravely, as he noted the similarity. “Forget I said anything,” he murmured. 

“Please talk about him,” Madeline said, “you know I won’t stop you.” 

“Right,” Sam said. He held out an index finger and Charlie opened his fist, curling his small digits around Sam’s large one. “Does he know how to crawl yet?”

“He can’t even turn over by himself,” Maddie said, fastening the diaper carefully. It was a miracle that ‘Chooker’ hadn’t peed all over Sam in reaction to the cold. The baby was snapped back into his onesie and then unceremoniously handed to Sam.

A huge grin lit Sam’s face as he rested his palm against the baby’s back. That he was good with kids was expected – that he seemed to know how to carry them was a new wrinkle to Sam’s already complex personality. Bouncing Charlie, he carried the baby back to his bassinette and set his dozing body down among the light blankets, making sure he got the right amount of cool air-conditioned breeze. He watched the baby settle down for a minute before turning to Madeline.

“Wanna beer?” 

“Just one,” she said, as he walked back into the kitchen. Settling down on the window seat, close by the bassinette, Madeline set her chin into her palm and watched the moon track across the sky.

Sam announced his return by pressing the cold bottle to the back of her neck, making Maddie curse and flail in an attempt to grab the offending object.

“Missed me,” Sam said, sitting beside her. His eyes were on the baby, and Maddie immediately softened. 

“So you have any of your own?” Maddie asked.

He shook his head. “It was never the right time.” His eyes hid the pain he’d been feeling over that fact. 

“You still have time, Sam,” she said. “You can start over again, if you needed to.”

He slowly slipped an arm around Maddie’s waist. “Honey, everything I need’s right here.” Silence passed. She, he noted, didn’t move his hand. “He’s got your eyes,” Sam said, pecking the bridge of her nose.

“Nate’s eyes,” she said to his chin.

“YOUR eyes, Madeline.” He took a step forward, blocking out all the voices that rose, screaming, in his head to remind him that this woman was Michael Westen’s mother, and that he was about to make his life a very, very awkward one. 

His arms went around her and they gave in to their desires, kissing under the warm Florida moonlight.

THE END


End file.
